LARAMIE, Wyo. (March 12, 2018) --  Junior Clara Tapia was named to the Academic All-America® Women's Basketball Third Team on Monday. She moved to the ballot after being named First Team Academic All-District VII in February. It's the first since former Cowgirl Chaundra Sewell in 2013 earned third team honors.
 
Tapia was an Academic All-Mountain West and Scholar-Athlete selection a year ago, and carries a 4.0 gpa in molecular biology and chemistry. The junior from Barcelona, Spain has played in all 31 games this season for the Cowgirls. She is averaging 4.7 points and a team-leading 4.4 assists. In January, the she and sophomore Taylor Rusk were recipients of the The "Williams Scholars" award which will be presented to the top UW female student-athletes majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs over the next four years.
       
Twelve of the 16 members of the 2017-18 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I women's basketball teams have at least a 3.90 GPA, with 10 student-athletes maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. The five members of the first team have an average GPA of 4.02, with the three teams combining for a 3.91 GPA.
       
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.